Red Zone

Philly.com Staff

After every Senior Bowl practice, the players will sort of mill around on the field, where NFL scouts and assistants have the opportunity to speak with them. The Eagles were extremely busy speaking with prospects after several of the practices, and we'll review every player they spoke with, starting today with the corners.

By the time the Eagles whittle down their draft board to around 150+ players, they will speak with just about every prospect. Still, it is interesting to see who the scouts and assistant coaches specifically spend some extra time with after practices. Here is a list of who they spoke with after Senior Bowl practices this week, and if you'll notice, they were all defensive players:

Corners

• Aaron Colvin, CB, Oklahoma (5'11, 186)

• Stan Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska (6'2, 215)

• Dontae Johnson, CB, North Carolina State (6'2, 199)

Safeties

• Deone Bucannon, S, Washington State (6'1, 216)

• Ahmad Dixon, S, Baylor (6'0, 205)

Inside Linebackers

• Lamin Barrow, ILB, LSU (6'1, 229)

• Chris Borland, ILB, Wisconsin (5'11, 245)

• Jonathan Brown, ILB, Illinois (6'1, 224)

• Christian Jones, ILB, Florida State (6'3, 234)

Outside Linebackers

• Jeremiah Attaochu, OLB, Georgia Tech (6'3, 252)

• *Kyle Van Noy, OLB, BYU (6'3, 244): *The person speaking with Van Noy was wearing Eagles gear, but I did not recognize him, so it may or may not have been Eagles personnel.

Defensive Linemen

• Will Clarke, DE, West Virginia (6'6, 271)

• DeAndre Coleman, DT, Cal (6'5, 315)

• Brent Urban, DE, Virginia (6'7, 298)

***

Corner is an obvious position of need for the Eagles. Bradley Fletcher was good in his first season with the Eagles, while there were mixed reviews on Cary Williams. Meanwhile, Brandon Boykin is emerging as one of the best slot corners in the game. That is a trio that overall is good, but certainly not anywhere close to teams like the Seahawks.

Beyond Fletcher, Williams and Boykin, the Eagles have virtually nothing in the way of depth at corner. They absolutely need to reload behind what they already have in place.

Jean-Baptiste has rare size (6-foot-2 3/8, 215); he looks like a clone of Richard Sherman. I'm sure the Seahawks, among most NFL teams, will be paying close attention to this player. He's a junior-college transfer who only played cornerback for a season and a half at Nebraska after switching from wide receiver in 2011. Has very long arms (78 3/8 wingspan) and is a willing tackler. Looks fast in coverage and has quickness. If he looks like he can cover in man drills this week, he might move up into my top 100. Smart player who entered 2013 with his degree already in hand.

Personally, I don't really see many similarities, and in the games I watched, I did not see a willing tackler. Jean-Baptiste's effectiveness as a press corner should not be confused with physicality. Nnamdi Asomugha was a great press corner for years in Oakland, but he wasn't a player that liked to stick his nose in there in the run game. When you watch Jean-Baptiste play, he demonstrates a lot of the same traits. He's a player that will just kind of stand around the pile and be content to let his teammates make tackles instead of aggressively attacking. Sherman, on the other hand, is a legitimately physical corner. Jean-Baptiste reminds me more of Nnamdi than Sherman.

Last year, the Eagles brought in two free agents in Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher that were good in run support. Jean-Baptiste is an intriguing player for his size, but he has to become more of a willing participant in stopping the run.

Jean-Baptiste switched from wide receiver to corner, and thinks he thinks he still has some work to do. "I have to work on my off-man technique," said Jean-Baptiste. "I have a tendency to jump routes a lot, so I have to work on that." Against Penn State this year, Jean-Baptiste jumped a route on Allen Robinson, and was toasted deep, but Christian Hackenberg missed the throw. Check out the 2:05 mark here (and you may as well file away the excellent route that Robinson ran here while you're at it).

This is player that has a high ceiling because of his size and athleticism, but might not be someone you want playing right away, as he needs some work. If the Eagles like what they see, he could be a player that takes over on the outside in a few years.

• Aaron Colvin, CB, Oklahoma (5'11, 186)

In 2012, Brandon Boykin broke his leg at the Senior Bowl and the Eagles were able to draft him in the 4th round, which was an absolute steal. In 2014, they may find themselves in a position to do the same with Aaron Colvin.

After the first day of practice, the Eagles were all over Colvin, as several scouts and assisstant coaches chatted him up. It was the most attention I saw the Eagles pay someone (with the possible exception of Florida State ILB Christian Jones) in my time down at the Senior Bowl.

On Day 2, Colvin tore his ACL. A torn ACL is far more serious than a broken leg, but if the Eagles really like him and are willing to be patient, they could draft him with the intent of Colvin basically being a rookie in 2015. They've done this in the past, unsuccessfully, with Wisconsin CB Jack Ikegwuonu, who they drafted in the 4th round in 2008. Unless he's a bona fide stud player, the 4th round is too early to draft a guy with a torn ACL, but if Colvin is still available a little later, it could be a long term value play.

Colvin was one of the top-rated CB prospects in the country before his injury. One of the most entertaining of Colvin's games to watch was the Sooners' 50-49 win over West Virginia in 2012. In that game, WVU WR Stedman Bailey went off for 13 catches, 205 yards, and 4 TDs. Colvin covered Bailey quite a bit that day, and was responsible for 2 of his TDs. However, he also had an INT, a pass breakup that led to an INT by one of his teammates, and several other pass breakups. He also had 8 tackles. That game is definitely worth a look, as WVU threw Colvin's way repeatedly. Sometimes Colvin won, sometimes he didn't, but you'll see him get a ton of action here:

• Dontae Johnson, CB, North Carolina State (6'2, 199)

Like Stan Jean-Baptiste, Johnson is CB with great size. The knock on him are the lack of big plays in his college career at NC State. For his career, Johnson only had 3 INTs and 1 forced fumble. The other concern is his speed. The video below is of Johnson against Clemson. There are a few occasions where Johnson is burnt on deep routes, although Clemson didn't capitalize on them.

What you do see in that video, however, is a very good, and willing tackler. Johnson will be a player to watch at the combine. It wil be interesting to see how fast he runs there. Because of the speed concerns, his future in the NFL could be at safety.